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Vampire
Vampire (also known as Vampyr and as Van-Tal in the dimension Pylea) was a demon species which could only exist in the physical plane by possessing and animating a human corpse, making them hybrids. They were well-known for feeding on the blood of mammals, particularly humans. Origins ... the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed -- infected -- by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another... and so they walk the earth, feeding. Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. - Rupert Giles, The Harvest According to Rupert Giles, before leaving our world the last of the Old Ones mixed their blood with that of a human, creating the first vampire.The Harvest Turok-Han Vampire In the year 2003, a separate vampire species called Turok-Han Vampire reappeared after millennia. It was described by Rupert Giles: As Neanderthals are to human beings, the Turok-Han are to vampires. They're a primordial, ferociously powerful killing machine, as single-minded as animals. They are the vampires that vampires fear. An ancient and entirely different race, and until this morning, I thought they were a myth. The Turok-Han shared some traits with the common vampire: when killed by decapitation or the sun, they become dust as common vampires did. However, their armored chest cavity was nearly impervious to stakes. Their blood also was of a darker coloration, as these vampires were not in human bodies. An entire army of them were destroyed in the Battle at the Hellmouth. It is unknown if there are any others left alive after that battle. Human Awareness of Vampires For most of history, the majority of humans remained unaware or in denial of the existence of vampires, with notable exceptions including the Watchers' Council, the Slayers, and vampire hunters like Daniel Holtz or Charles Gunn. Rupert Giles explains this as the tendency for people to "rationalize what they can and forget what they can't." Aimee Mann, a guest singer at The Bronze, remarks that she hates playing in "vampire towns." For a time in Sunnydale, there was a group of vampire wannabes known as the Sunset Club. Though they were aware of the existence of vampires, they were initially oblivious to their true nature, referring to them as the "Lonely Ones" and believing them to be gentle and misunderstood. They ultimately did discover the brutal and violent true nature of vampires when they were attacked and nearly killed by Spike and his henchmen, only to be saved by Buffy. Vampire psychology Unlike many other species of demon, the demon component of a vampire appeared to have no more intelligence than that of solitary predatory animals and were incapable of language. Other than the Turok-Han the principal evidence on this question comes from Angel's visit to the demon world Pylea; when he took on "vampire face" in that world, he unexpectedly became a mindless demon. For this reason, an ordinary vampire shares many qualities with its human predecessor, including his or her memories; though it lacks a human soul and thus a conscience. As Darla puts it, "What we were informs what we become." A vampire's personality can be the corrupt, opposite version of its human predecessor, or an expression of the human's hidden potential, as well as his/her fantasies and desires, held unchecked by the human soul. According to Watcher Duncan Fillworthe, vampires are regret personified, "hunger for life that's been damned to never be satisfied". Vampires typically lose their feelings for the people they cared about in their human lives. After being sired, Jesse McNally tells Xander Harris that he is "like a shadow to him now." However, William Pratt retained some affection for his mother after becoming a vampire. Despite being soulless, vampires are capable of human emotions like love and affection, but these tend to take twisted and obsessive forms, as was the case of Spike and James. However, in cases like Angelus and Darla, their love was second to their own survival instinct. Examples * Jesse McNally was attracted to Cordelia Chase, who snubbed him for his awkwardness. As a vampire, Jesse approached Cordelia in a predatory manner, filled with confidence and charisma, and for once she consented to dance with him. * Harmony Kendall was a vain, vapid, and snobbish member of the Cordettes before being sired. As a vampire, she was still vapid and snobbish, and remarked that it was harder for her to do the right thing without a soul, although she remained mostly unchanged. * Drusilla was a pious and chaste Catholic girl, gifted/cursed with psychic abilities and disturbed because she did not know what was causing her visions. As a vampire, Drusilla is highly sexual and kinky, and revels in her psychic powers. * Angelus: Liam lived haunted by his father's disapproval and expectations that he would never be more than a lazy, womanizing drunk. As a vampire, Angelus is driven by the memory of his father's contempt to show that he can be something great: the most flamboyantly sadistic vampire ever recorded. * Spike: William the Bloody was an outcast, rejected and ridiculed by his contemporaries whom he regarded as ignorant and insensitive despite their wealth. As a vampire, Spike lashes out at society, rejecting bureaucracy, aristocracy and authority and finding pleasure in mayhem and chaos, while still remaining a romantic at heart. In addition, William was a shy young man with a peaceful nature and a love for poetry; in contrast, he later was considered one of the most violent vampires to exist. Both as a human and as a vampire, Spike demonstrates a potential for all-consuming, obsessive love, first for his mother, then for Drusilla, and finally for Buffy. He will often pursue his love object to the point of near-self destruction. * Anne: William's devoted mother feared he was too attached to her but could not bring herself to the cruelty of saying so. As a vampire she has no such compunctions, and taunts William with the insinuation of Oedipal deviancy. Lies My Parents Told Me The demon within The demon that possessed and animated a vampire's body was not the main factor that outlined the vampire's personality. The demon, which Pyleans called "Van-Tal" (Drinker of Blood), was little more than a vicious, hematophagous creature that only added the bloodlust and killer instinct to the vampire's personality. The Van-Tal had green skin and rows of spines on its forehead and skin as well as clawed hands and red eyes. It was incapable of speaking and walking upright. Vampire reproduction: siring and rebirth To make you a vampire they have to suck your blood and then you have to suck their blood. It’s a whole big sucking thing. - Buffy Summers, Welcome to the Hellmouth To create a new vampire, blood exchange is needed. Victims of vampire attacks do not turn into new vampires unless they consume the sire's blood when near death. If the vampire drains all of the victim's blood, the victim will simply die. A human who imbibes vampire blood when not at the point of death will not change (Buffy vs. Dracula). Vampires obtain pleasure from the act of siring, and sometimes they might sire new vampires by instinct, which would explain why many new vampires are abandoned by their sires. Vampires' Rebirth Following the blood exchange, the victim dies of blood loss and, according to Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, will reawaken on the night after the siring, sometime between sunset and sunrise. However certain other vampires have raised a few hours after the blood exchange. No special preparations, such as burial, are required for the vampire's rebirth. Vampires mostly rise from graves because they spent a time between death and rebirth as corpses and were buried. In any event, new vampires often awake with a sensation of disorientation, in which most vampires are highly violent and feral, before recovering and realizing their new status. This clarity usually "kicks in" after the vampire rises from the grave or at least after the first feeding. In any event, when the vampire overcomes the confusion, they experience a sensation of clarity that is new and unique, and which they will express in different ways: * Jesse: "I feel good, Xander! I feel strong! I'm connected, man, to everything! I can hear the worms in the earth!" (The Harvest) * Andrew Borba: "He is risen in me! He fills my head with song! You're the chaff, unblessed. I'll suck the blood from your hearts, he says I may!" (Never Kill a Boy on the First Date) (Caveat: Borba spoke much the same way when alive.) * Darla: "It all makes sense now, doesn't it?" - Liam: "Yes. Perfect sense". (The Prodigal) * Alonna Gunn (to Charles Gunn): "Don't be sad. I'm not. On this side there is no guilt, no grief. I got the greatest guilt cure ever. I can free you!" (War Zone) * Spike: "Becoming a vampire is a profound and powerful experience. I could feel this new strength coursing through me. Getting killed made me feel alive for the very first time. I was through living by society's rules. Decided to make a few of my own." (Fool for Love) * Holden Webster: "No, it feels okay. Strong, and I feel like I'm connected to a powerful all-consuming evil that's gonna suck the world into fiery oblivion." (Conversations with Dead People) * Anne: "It's as though I've been given new eyes. I see everything. Understand... Everything. (Lies My Parents Told Me) All the examples show that the new vampire is commonly astonished by the new sensation of power and the connection to an "all-consuming evil." The Sire's Psychic Link Angel once dreamt of his progeny Penn's actions, later telling his friends, "I used to have a connection with those I sired. It just means he's close. That's all." Angel had already demonstrated this to track down Drusilla when she first appeared on Sunnydale. Vampire resurrection Few vampires have been brought back to life. Darla and Spike are the only known successful vampire resurrections: first Spike was brought back from the dead as a "ghost" and then re-corporealized as a vampire; later, Darla came back to life as a vampire after transdimensional damage caused by the Sins caused many of the dead to begin rising or falling from their various afterlives. After the Master's death, the Anointed One attempted to resurrect him using his skeletal remains but was unsuccessful. The spell required the usage of the blood of those who were with the Master upon his death, but Buffy, Xander, and Angel stopped the ritual and destroyed the Master's skeleton to ensure that it would never happen again. Both Angel and Darla have been made human again. Angel was initially turned human by the blood of a Mohra Demon in a negated timeline. Darla was resurrected as a human by Vocah. Vampire Society Like humans, vampires are social beings, often living in groups organized like packs or prides. These groups are commonly organized with the purpose of protection and feeding. The leading vampire is known as "Master," usually the sire of the group, the eldest one or the most powerful; in any event, the dominant vampire was the one capable of achieving the top position and enforcing his authority through strength and violence. There are also some cases in which the leading position is occupied by a dominant couple, like Spike and Drusilla or James and Elisabeth. The followers are commonly known as "minions" or "lackeys," though sometimes they can also be referred as "acolytes." These are commonly the progeny of the master vampire, or vampires that fall under the authority of the master due to their own weakness or youth. While minions are expected to follow the commands of their master and are punished when failing, there are examples of vampires rebelling against their masters, or even choosing to serve a new one. Vampire clans, packs and cults * Order of Aurelius ** Subset: Darla, Angelus, (as the dominant couple) Drusilla and Spike. * Spike and Dru and their minions: Dalton, Julia, Lucius, etc. (BtVS Season 2). * Kakistos and the vampires that lived and died for him, including Mister Trick and a female vampire, though these two refused to die for him. * Count Dracula and the Three Sisters Vampire minions of non-vampires There are cases, though, in which vampires wind up in the service of non-vampires, such as very powerful sorcerers or demons, even though vampires are commonly rejected by other demons who regard them as the ultimate filth since they have human bodies. * Mayor Wilkins and his lackeys: Mister Trick, Lenny, Alphonse and other ex-minions of Spike and Angelus * The Scourge, an army of pure-bred demons obsessed with scouring the world of "impure" demons who had a part human ancestry, briefly counted Angel among their ranks under the pretense that he despised his own humanity. Due to the Scourge's view of impure demons, this can be seem as the exception rather than the rule. * Wolfram & Hart employed vampires, including Harmony. * Pisidia, an Old One risen into a vampire host body, claimed the rest of her host's pack as her followers after her rise. Though Pisidia is the leader of the cult, much of the duties thereof fell to Valeria, her Qwa'ha Xahn (who had been the dominant pack member prior to her rise and was Pisidia's shell's identical twin sister). Vampire members included Rico. This particular pack is even stranger because it contained a human member, Shelly Glick (operating undercover at the time). Vampire master, non-vampire minions There are some cases in which a powerful vampire requires the service of human minions and lackeys, and sometimes even demons: * Spike mentions that he once employed two Fyarl demons. While demons, both pure and half-breeds, often regard vampires as inferiors, Fyarls are usually too dim-witted to grasp the concept of racial discrimination. * Dracula and his "manservants," briefly including Xander Harris. * See above on Shelly Glick's role in the cult of Pisidia. The Slayer and vampires Within vampire society, the Slayer could be described as a source of great fear. Even vampires as powerful as Angelus and Darla preferred to avoid confronting Slayers, keeping a low profile to prevent attracting her attention. The killing of a Slayer was considered a great feat in vampire society. For example: * Following the death of the Master in 1997, the vampires of the Order of Aurelius claimed that whoever managed to kill Buffy Summers would be the Master's successor. * Killing two Slayers in less than 200 years of existance made Spike an infamous figure among vampires and Watchers as well. ** One of Angel's deepest secrets and greatest shames is that he once killed a Slayer in self-defense after obtaining a soul. * The prospect of killing and draining Buffy gave Mr. Trick a sensation of euphoria that made him lower his guard, allowing Faith Lehane to kill him. Vampire Physiology Vampires are commonly described as "dead." Death can be defined as a status in which the body lacks living physiological functions, such as having a pulse or breathing. However, vampires are able to move, feed, talk and feel despite inhabiting dead bodies. The term "undead" seems much more fitting as the vampire, while not living, isn't dead either. When a human is sired, a demon spirit takes possession of the corpse, reanimating it and altering its physiology. The demon within the vampire causes these alterations: * Requires mammalian blood to maintain strength. Usually, this is human blood, but rats, pigs and otters have been consumed on the show. The blood of supernatural, human-appearing mammalian beings, such as the Children of the Senior Partners feeds a vampire as well and often has added benefits (see below). Vampires do not typically feed on the blood of other demons, and Trask, a member of the Scourge specifically states so. * Facial alterations (brow ridges, golden eyes, elongated upper canines, pointed upper incisors, overall sharpening of the teeth) when feeding or under physically or emotionally stressful situations such as fighting or copulating, in which a vampire might assume its real face in preparation for feeding or to intimidate the opponent. In addition to this, a vampire may show their "vampire face" at will (Connor asks Angel to show him his "second face" and Angel reluctantly obliges), when generally pissed off, when sexually aroused, when suddenly and/or unexpectedly injured. This is the vampire's true face, and their ability to disguise themselves with the face of their human predecessor is one of the vampire's most useful powers. It is implied that maintaining "vampface" takes effort and cannot be maintained for too long. However, older vampires like The Master, Kakistos and the Vampires of Atlantis are in vampface permanently, suggesting that the necessary effort fades over time. * While their hearts don't beat, vampires have some kind of blood flow which allows the blood in their bodies to be transported. This also means that vampires can be rendered unconscious if blood flow to the brain is interrupted and that vampires can become intoxicated (Spike becomes drunk multiple times). Male vampires are capable of having sex, so they do have some blood flow enabling an erection. * They generate no body heat. * Their bodies perform motor functions like human bodies, often better than humans. * Their lungs do not absorb oxygen or any other gases; vampires thus cannot be drowned or asphyxiated, although their bodies may retain the breathing reflex for a short time. A vampire is capable of speaking and smoking; however, Angel says that he cannot give artificial respiration to a drowned human ("I have no breath"; Prophecy Girl). * Vampires heal rapidly, albeit in a similar way to human bodies (Spike's broken back heals, but after months have passed). However, they can suffer trauma (such as being put into a coma) that renders them unconscious. They can also have unhealable scars under certain conditions. Xin Rong used an enchanted sword to give Spike the scar on his eyebrow. Faith, aided by the spirit of Artemia, gave Kakistos a permanent scar and blinded him in the right eye. * Immunity to diseases - Darla and Spike's mother Anne are both physically cured when turned into vampires. * They do not generate life force, and their brains do not have the same mystical qualities of a human brain, which means Glory is unable to feed on vampire brains. * Their bodies cast no reflection on mirrors or water. This also causes them to be immune to mind reading powers as shown in the episode "Earshot]." Angel realizes Buffy is trying to read his mind and says, "You can't get into my head." Buffy, taken aback by his realization asks, "How did you -- why not?" Angel responds with, "It's like the mirror. The thoughts are there, but they create no reflection within you." However, they can still be photographed or video taped, as these systems function in the same way as human eyes. * Even though their bodies are clinically dead, a vampire's hair is apparently still able to grow. For example, Angelus had long hair until the 20th century. By the 1920's he had short hair, but by the 1970's he was long-haired again. *A vampire's nerve endings and pain receptors seem to work just as well as a human's; in "Innocence", Angelus is incapacitated with pain after Buffy kicks him in the groin. * Vampires seem to have fully functional tear ducts and be physically capable of crying; Angel, Darla, Drusilla and Spike have shed tears on several occasions. * Vampires are unable to regenerate lost limbs, though they can be surgically reattached. * Vampires are usually unable to procreate in the human manner, though this can be subverted magically (as was the case when Fiona became pregnant with Angie) or by the will of the Higher Powers (such as when Darla became pregnant with Connor). *Vampires can survive the extremely high pressures of the deep ocean. Strength Vampires possess superhuman strength. The exact limits of this strength are debatable and often vary from individual to individual. Some vampires have been shown capable of deforming metal with their hands, while others have been held back by wooden doors. Chains have had varying success at restraining vampires; Angel was able to break out of them after hours of trying, while others found them unbreakable. They have also been shown to throw human bodies anywhere from 5 to 25 ft away. This strength appears to be largely metaphysical, as it does not appear to add to their body mass and they remain buoyant enough to swim. Furthermore, waif-like vampires such as Drusilla, Darla and Gunn's sister have shown great feats of strength with no apparent added muscle mass. Vampires also seem to grow in strength as they age and shed more and more of their human features. The blood of enhanced human and human-like beings augments their strength to a great degree. Vampires also derive pleasure from the act of feeding off such humans. Examples of vampires feeding on superhumans and gaining a charge include: * The Slayer's blood is the only cure for a poison called the Killer of the Dead. Feeding off Slayers has been shown to provide a temporary "high" as well; Spike likened it to an aphrodisiac on his first taste. Slayer (Buffy's) blood also provided enough temporary strength to enable the Master to escape his mystical prison, although the strength may have only been primarily mystical rather than physical. Age Being "dead," vampires do not age as living humans do, but the passing of centuries does affect them. * Physical strength, agility, reflexes and stamina improve with age. The Master's advanced age made him able to kill his victims "before they could draw breath." * The ability to take on human appearance is eventually lost. Russell Winters, while able to assume human visage, had much more deformed vampire features such as greenish skin, indicating an old age, though not one as advanced as that of the most ancient vampires seen: The Master, Kakistos, and the Vampires of Atlantis. These vampires did not resemble each other, yet they all have obtained more demonic features. Kakistos had cloven hooves instead of hands and feet, while the Master had elongated talon-like fingers and pointed ears. The Atlantis vampires varied in appearance, ranging from the leonine Dude Whose Name Heather Cannot Remember to a batlike female who had even sprouted functional wings and developed the ability to fly. It is unclear how long a vampire must live for their humanity to fade. Angel was over 200 and Darla over 400 and neither had yet lost any of their human visage. * The Master's skeleton, uniquely, remained when his flesh turned to dust. Senses Being primarily nocturnal, vampires have enhanced hearing, smell and night vision (though Angel is on one occasion seen wearing night vision goggles). They are especially sensitive to the scent of blood, and can distinguish individual humans and vampires by scent. Spike in particular has an acute sense of smell, one which, in the later seasons, he uses to help the Scoobies find enemy hideouts, demons, etc; most notably, when Buffy is forced out of the house after a mutiny, Spike tracked her down by scent alone at least several hours after she had left. On one occasion Angel tells by scent that Wesley had sex with a bleached blond the night before. Several vampires (Dalton, Penn) are seen wearing eyeglasses. However, William wore eyeglasses while Spike does not seem to need them (he shows no signs of either myopia or farsightedness; he can do things like read books and aim guns with no problem). Breathing Vampires do not require oxygen to survive, allowing them to survive in poisonous atmospheres, underwater and resist strangling. Angel was unaffected by gas and was also able to survive underwater for 3 months. However, vampires do maintain some sort of breathing reflex, which allows them to smoke, and gag reflex, which can affect them when choked, though they can learn to ignore it. While unable to perform CPR, vampires are capable of smoking and speaking. Eating and drinking A vampire's normal diet consists solely of mammalian blood, and Angel says other food has little flavor. However, vampires appear to retain the ability to taste and differentiate liquids. Spike enjoys beer, whiskey, Weetabix (which he mixes into blood for texture), chocolate, spices and burba weed (both of which he mixes into blood for flavor), Buffalo wings, and onion blossoms; Darla has extremely particular preferences about alcohol (Denna tells Ryan that she "likes beer, wine and fruity things for socializing," while "champagne, tequila and rum are for fun," and she likes "bourbon when she's upset"); Angel occasionally drinks coffee. Vampires cannot digest non-blood foods, however, and eventually have to purge it from their systems via induced vomiting. If the blood is tainted in some way, such as through steroid use, it tastes bad to vampires. Vampires do not die of starvation like humans, yet they can suffer certain effects if they do not feed for prolonged periods: * First, their strength dwindles considerably and they become paler and can experience cold. * Second, after months of not feeding, they suffer damage to higher brain functions, which can result in extremely vivid hallucinations. Blood from a healthy human is required for the vampire to recuperate. * Third, they become "living skeletons," according to Spike. Drugs and poisons Vampires can be affected by any kind of drugs and poisons just like humans, though lethal drugs and human poisons do not kill them: * Spike and Darla smoke tobacco, but aren't affected by the smoke. Spike reports that at Woodstock he "fed off a flower person and spent the next six hours watching his hand move," presumably an effect of LSD. He also can drink himself to unconsciousness. * Darla enjoys several recreational drugs, including heroin, cocaine and especially marijuana. Denna does not allow Darla to use heroin or cocaine, however, as cocaine makes her extremely violent, while heroin causes her to become almost suicidally depressed once she comes down from the euphoria. Darla also suffers intense hangovers from dehydration after marijuana usage. * Angelus tries to feed on Gage Petronzi in Go Fish, but spits out his blood because either the steroids in it or the ongoing transformation into a fish creature give it a bad taste. * Kralik (Helpless) is treated with and dependent on anti-psychotic medication; without them, he suffers extraordinary pain. * Vampire Willow is knocked out by a tranquilizer dart commonly used on Oz in his werewolf form. * The Killer of the Dead is a mystical poison Faith used to incapacitate Angel. It causes a severe fever and kills the vampire in a matter of days. The blood of a Slayer is the only known cure. * Angel is paralyzed by a neural paralytic drug that would kill a human being in I Fall to Pieces. He is also highly susceptible to the effects of caffeine. * Calynthia powder seemingly augments Angel's synapses enough keep him in unrestful sleep, plagued by dreams, and renders him more suggestible. * Vampires get high from feeding off junkies using intravenous drugs, such as Orpheus, a mystical drug. Injuries Vampires can suffer severe injuries and require a long time to recuperate. * Drusilla, almost killed by an angry mob in Prague, was left extremely weak for months, until she was cured by a special ceremond requiring the blood of her sire (Angel). Angel in turn required time to recuperate from the ordeal. * Spike is forced into a wheelchair when an entire church organ collapses on him, but months later he's back on his feet. Mental health Humans suffering from some sort of mental illness will keep it as vampires. This illness will also be central for the formation of the vampire's persona: * Drusilla's visions and her subsequent ordeal at Angelus' hands traumatized her into some sort of schizophrenia. As a vampire, Dru remains schizophrenic, yet she's not paranoid or depressive like her human predecessor. Combined with her psychic powers, Drusilla's madness gives her a unique perspective in which she revels. Vampire's weaknesses Vampires die when impaled in the heart with a wooden object, beheaded, exposed to direct sunlight or consumed by fire. When vampires die, their bodies and clothing turn to dust in a matter of seconds. Wood If the heart of the vampire is pierced with a wooden object, the vampire will immediately die. Instances have included stakes, arrows, a tree branch, a pencil, a wooden toothbrush and a chopstick. A wooden stake in an area other than the heart will not work, nor will puncture of the heart by other materials such as metal, plastic woodgrain, or synthetic wood. Bullets and blades can cause great pain, but will not kill the vampire, unless of course they result in decapitation (see below). The vampire's flesh seems to be especially vulnerable to wood, which would explain why it was relatively easy for Cordelia, who has no fighting training or enhanced strength, to stake a vampire minion during the Graduation Battle, how Candy Gorch was dusted by the wood handle of a spatula, why Jesse was accidentally dusted when pushed against the stake Xander was holding, or how Kate Lockley was able to impale Angel through the stomach with a broken board and stake Penn while the latter was on Angel's back. The amount of wood also seems to be another factor to consider when analyzing vampires' weaknesses. A vampire as ancient as Kakistos barely even feels pain when stabbed with a common stake, but dies when impaled with a large beam of wood. The Master was also impaled on an unusually large piece of wood after being thrown from a roof by Buffy. No previous staking attempt had been made on The Master, but it is presumable that he is also invulnerable to common stakes. Common vampires, however, can be staked with pieces of wood as thin as a pencil. Dracula appears to be immune to stakes to some extent; during his confrontation with Buffy, she staked him twice in a row, and he reformed from mist both times. Fire and sunlight When set on fire, the body of the vampire will be consumed in a relatively short time. The more powerful the vampire is, the longer it will take for their bodies to be properly destroyed, which explains why Darla and Drusilla are able to survive being set on fire while an anonymous vampire is quickly consumed when Spike lights him with his Zippo lighter. Should a vampire survive the fire, the healing process will regenerate the charred flesh, skin and hair. The light emitted by the earth's sun (Sol) is extremely hazardous to vampires, should they be exposed directly to it. When exposed to direct natural sunlight, the body of the vampire combusts and will quickly be consumed by the resulting flames. However, older and more powerful vampires like Spike or Angel can resist sunlight better than younger, weaker vampires, who are consumed almost instantly. In fact, when Spike was first sired, he and Angelus bonded by deliberately exposing themselves to the sun. Filtered and/or indirect sunlight may not cause any kind of injury to vampires. If protected from direct exposure to sunlight, vampires can be active in the middle of the day: Angel frequently used sewer tunnels under the Hyperion Hotel, while Spike was often seen traveling under a heavy blanket or in cars with blacked out windows. To protect its vampire employees, the Los Angeles offices of Wolfram & Hart employ "necro-tempered" tinted glass to filter the components of light that are dangerous to vampires, while leaving brightness intact. Exposure to artificial sunlight such as tanning lamps do not harm vampires either. Also, the light of suns in other dimensions has been shown to not injure vampires in any way. The twin suns in Pylea are safe for vampires. Whether or not this applies to all alternate dimensions is unknown. Decapitation It was also possible to kill a vampire through decapitation. Like in the case of staking, the vampire would turn to ashes. Decapitation could be achieved through blows with sharp objects such as metal axes and swords, or by ripping off the vampire's head. Shotgun blasts and even car doors were effective. Holy items Abrahamic-based holy items such as crosses, Stars of David, Bibles or Torahs, holy water (water blessed by a priest) or mikveh water (water used for ritual purification) burn vampires on contact, producing smoke but not flames. Thus, they are employed to ward off vampires with moderate success. The mere sight of a cross can cause a vampire to recoil in fear. Vampires can enter consecrated buildings such as churches or synagogues, but doing so appears to produce feelings of unease. Holy water in particular can be lethal if ingested by a vampire, as exemplified by Zachary Kralik, who swallowed holy water and was burned to death from within. As vampires grow older and more powerful, they become capable of better resisting the pain caused by crosses through force of will. For instance, the Master had become capable of touching crosses, and, despite the fact that they burned his hand, withstanding the pain. Likewise, Angel was capable of walking over crosses during the Trials and enduring the pain of Buffy's cross necklace branding his chest. The substance of the cross is irrelevant: wood and metal crosses have the same effect. However, two rods temporarily held in the shape of a cross are insufficient. Absolute Invulnerability Vampires can achieve invulnerability to all their weaknesses mentioned above in at least two ways: * wearing the Gem of Amarra, which was destroyed by Angel. * having a procedure that removed the vampire's heart and infused his/her body with mystical potions. While having the same effects as the Gem of Amarra, its effects only last for six hours. After these have passed, the vampire instantly dusts. In either case, the vampire is immune to the effects of sunlight and instantly regenerates wounds, such as those caused by staking. It's unknown or even mentioned if decapitation is an exception. Invitations Vampires can enter a private residence, including houses and apartments, only if invited; otherwise they will hit an invisible barrier. Vampires can enter all other buildings as normal. * The inviter need not be aware that the invitee is a vampire: ** Buffy invites Angel, and Joyce Summers invites both Darla and Dracula, into the Summers residence ** Cordelia invites Harmony into her apartment. * The invitation can be coerced through telepathic means: ** Joyce invited Dracula while under his thrall. * The invitation need not be immediate or specific: ** Cordelia invites Angel to her apartment before she has found one. Angel effortlessly enters the one she moves into. ** Wesley posing as Angel is invited by Benny into Magnus Bryce's residence; that invitation allows Angel himself to enter. * The invitation can be written instead of spoken: ** * The inviter must be a resident, but not necessarily the owner: ** Kathy invites the newly sired Liam, her brother, into the family house. ** Buffy and Dawn do not own the Summers residence but have invitation rights. * Squatters and guests can also gain invitation rights. * The mystical barrier fades if all residents die. Darla enters Liam's former house after he murders his family. * No invitation is required for temporary accommodations such as motel rooms, hotel rooms and frat houses or if the vampire is the legal owner of the building. ** On the other hand, since Angel is not the legal owner of the Hyperion Hotel and it no longer functions as temporary accommodations, Fred must invite Angel to her room, as she has taken residence there. * Invitation has been shown to be necessary for dorm rooms: When Spike knocks on Willow's dorm room door, she shouts back, "Come in!" which grants him entrance. * The invitation can be conditional, even if the condition is not met. Catherine Manners was able to invite Angel into her home by saying "Help us." However, Angel instead helps Drusilla and Darla kill the people inside. * Once invited, the vampire is always free to enter, unless the invitation is ritually revoked. * The residences of vampires (who can also be counted as being dead) and other demons are not protected: ** Darla enters Angel's apartment, and breaks into Ryan and Emma's house. ** Angel breaks into Russell Winters' mansion. ** Angel doesn't require Wesley's invitation to Penn's lair. Even if he did, Wesley's invitation wouldn't work as he's not aresident or the legal owner. ** Angel, likewise, enters Merl's lair whenever he desires. ** Angel also enters Connor's place uninvited. * Un-inviting a vampire: ** After Angel lost his soul, Buffy and Willow performed a ritual to keep him out of her home. This involved some ritual chanting and the hanging of crosses. Reflections Vampires can't be seen on reflective surfaces like mirrors, glass or water. The cause of this is unknown; even though tradition states it was due to a vampire's lack of a soul (as mirrors were believed to reflect a person's soul), Angel and Spike don't cast reflections either. However, vampires can be seen in photographs, daguerreotypes and video tapes, as these systems function in ways similar to human eyes. A vampire's clothing also has no reflection. Vampires do have reflections in certain dimensions, such as Pylea, as its physics differ to those of our reality. The lack of reflection also works on telepathy: a vampire's thoughts and memories can't be read, except in the case of extremely powerful telepaths like Splenden Beasts. This does not seem to prevent vampires from participating in telepathic communications: Lily frequently telepathically communicated with Angel during her time at Angel Investigations. However, a vampire's mind is still susceptible to other sorts of mystical links, which allowed Buffy to be put into Angel's dreams. Empaths are capable of reading vampires, as their powers are not telepathic in nature. Psychic Powers Some vampires have been displayed possessing certain psychic abilities: * The Master can perform hypnosis, which he channels by merely waving his hand. He was also capable of sensing sources of mystical power, reading minds, limited telekinesis, and projecting his thoughts to plague dreams. * Drusilla's psychic powers (clairvoyance, hypnosis, mind reading, aura reading) came to her as a human, and she retains them as a vampire. * Darla sensed Angel's soul when he was first cursed. Wesley confirms some vampires are capable of sensing Angel's soul. * Angel's psychic link to his progeny allows him to perceive their actions through dreams and track them down as well, though he can only do it consciously. * Dracula is able to hypnotize humans, placing them under his "thrall." Spike, however, dismisses Dracula's special abilities as "showy Gypsy stuff," rather than natural abilities. Other powers * Dracula is able to take the form of a wolf, a bat and a green mist. He is able to reassemble himself after being staked and turned to dust. Spike claims these powers stem from gypsy magic. * Vampires have frequently been seen scaling up the sides of buildings like a spider, moving very quickly once they make contact with the building. * Penn, the vampire that Angel sired when he was still Angelus, is shown to possess supernatural speed - he is seen taking out a room of armed police officers, moving more quickly than what has been seen with most vampires in both Angel and Buffy.The episode's writer, Tim Minear, has stated, "...to my mind we didn't really invent new powers for our vamps. Penn did leap into a second story window, but he had been feeding and was fueled with adrenaline. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. As far as anything that may have seemed new... I made a point to have Penn "speed up" or go all Matrix-y when we were in a scene that was Kate's POV"http://tabletalk.salon.com/webx?14@473.j5ccaL9CW8V.0@.eea2eb5/2207. It should be noted that in "Blood Money", "Reprise", "Release", and "That Vision Thing" Angel demonstrates similar enhanced speed. * Angel (probably along with all vampires) possesses the ability to jump 10+ feet in the air (There is however an episode where Angel jumps almost 100 feet in the air meters). Influences Whedon's vampires owe more to the cosmos of H. P. Lovecraft than they do to the European and Christian traditions that inform most such creatures, being remnants of an ancient race of demons, or semi-demons, that ruled the Earth before the advent of humans; were displaced by humans; and are now seeking to wrest the world away from humans. The shows' writers added their own ideas, often based on popular culture, to the vampire myths that they, with Whedon, collectively developed throughout the duration of the series. These popular culture sources included a few of the traditional myths; comic book villains; The Exorcist; and makeup artists' ideas of how to depict demons, some of which ideas were inspired by reptiles (specifically, alligators). References External links * Vampires section at "All Things Philosophical on BtVS and AtS" Category:Species Category:Vampires